WASHINGTON – In announcing his long-awaited plans to overhaul government surveillance policies, President Barack Obama on Friday sought to occupy a middle space in the simmering debate about U.S. spying.
He pushed for a greater measure of transparency and oversight in how the intelligence community goes about its work but rejected calls to end the National Security Agency’s controversial telephone metadata program altogether.
“When you cut through the noise, what’s really at stake is how we remain true to who we are in a world that is remaking itself at dizzying speed,” Obama said in his address, which comes more than seven months after former NSA contractor Edward Snowden’s revelations triggered a national conversation about U.S. snooping.
Obama offered a forceful defense of the intelligence community. But he also acknowledged privacy advocates’ and civil libertarians’ concerns about the breadth of the nation’s intelligence apparatus, which has grown by quantum leaps with technological advances that he said make it harder than ever “to both defend our nation and uphold our civil liberties.”
The most significant policy change Obama announced was ending the NSA’s ability to store phone data from millions of Americans. He asked the Justice Department and the intelligence community to come up with a plan within 60 days of who should hold these records.
But the president declined calls from some in Congress and civil libertarians to end the telephone data program outright.
He argued that the program – which his own intelligence review panel concluded has not helped foil a terrorist act – was an essential tool in keeping the homeland safe and must be maintained.
The president said, however, that the agency – which has accessed the massive phone database at its own discretion in the past – would immediately be required to seek approval from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court before reviewing telephone records, except in emergency situations.
Obama also called for the establishment of a panel of independent advocates to represent privacy and civil liberty interests in “significant” cases before the secret surveillance court. The intelligence review panel suggested that an advocate appear in every case. Creating a public advocate panel will require congressional action and Obama’s.
He vowed that the U.S. won’t listen in on phone calls of allies unless there is a “compelling national security purpose.”
Some NSA critics on Capitol Hill said the president’s plans don’t go far enough and are riddled with loopholes that intelligence and law enforcement agencies can exploit.
“I am unwilling to sacrifice the privacy rights and civil liberties of Americans for the excessive collection of personal data,” said Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., predicting that the Supreme Court will ultimately decide the NSA’s authority, likened Obama’s speech to his health-care promises.
Paul told CNN: “I think what I heard is that if you like your privacy you can keep it.”
Even some supporters of the president said that for nearly every policy fix Obama offered, there are new questions about how he will be able to implement the changes.
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